When you think of Hawaii, seafood may come to mind, considering the state is surrounded by water. But hungry folks looking for sushi have a few less options right now, after the state’s department of health ordered several restaurants closed amid an ongoing Hepatitis A outbreak. [More]

Raw seafood might be delicious, but there’s always that chance that it could make you sick: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while it hasn’t conclusively determined the cause of a recent salmonella outbreak that’s spread to nine states and infected up to 53 people, it could be linked to sushi made with raw tuna.

For those who don’t live in California, it might seem like the drought is only a problem in that state — ‘Their lawns may be brown but mine’s not, so who cares?” an uncool citizen of the world might say. But you start jacking up the prices at sushi restaurants around the country and suddenly, it looks like it could be everyone’s problem. [More]

One of the trendiest things you can do to a food is to pair it with something else. Got some delicious, sea salt caramel chocolates? Here’s a beer to go with that. Love cheese? Here’s the wine you absolutely must drink with it, darling. And so it follows that now that recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado, someone had to be the first to pair it with a food. In this case, it’s sushi. [More]

It isn’t just Los Angeles that is having a problem with mislabeled fish — a new study that tested seafood on menus, at grocery stores and in fancy specialty shops in New York City says plenty of the fish offerings there are frequently misidentified. So while you might think you’re ordering up a nice slab of red snapper, it could just be a regular old piece of tialpia. That kind of mislabeling and misrepresentation could also lead to plenty of health problems, say researchers. [More]

According to an internal memo that was sent around the Food and Drug Administration offices, a salmonella outbreak that’s spread throughout sushi restaurants in 19 states and the District of Columbia could be responsible for making at least 90 people sick. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating the outbreak, which has sent seven people to the hospital.

It’s payback time for Japan, after the best catch of the year went to a foreign buyer three years in a row. But this year, sushi lovers there will get a chance to taste part of a record $736,000, approximately 530-lb bluefin tuna, as a local company won the fish at auction. They’re also giving back to their fellow citizens by not charging exorbitant prices for the special catch.

Remember The Hump — that trendy L.A. sushi joint that got busted for serving whale meat? Well, they’ve issued an apology — of sorts — saying they were just trying to give its customers the same kind of cuisine they could enjoy in Japan.

It’s common for restaurants to not seat a party until everyone has arrived, but here’s something we’ve never seen before: requiring a credit card to make the reservation, then charging $20 per person who doesn’t show up—but still refusing to seat an incomplete party. When Matthew tried to get his party of ten seated without two of the people—basically saying he’d pay the $40 to get out of the bar and at a table—management refused. We think this restaurant doesn’t like its patrons very much.

Sushi from 5 of the 20 places had mercury levels so high that the Food and Drug Administration could take legal action to remove the fish from the market. The sushi was bought by The New York Times in October.

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